TUSCALOOSA — Alabama backup quarterback Blake Barnett is no longer with the program and plans on transferring from the university, according to a report from Al.com.

During his news conference Wednesday, which occurred slightly after news broke of Barnett’s departure, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said he doesn’t know if Barnett is still a member of the team.

The head coach said he would give a statement when he received final word from the quarterback.

“He did come to see me today before practice with some concerns about his future,” Saban said. “Blake is a fine young man, he’s done a great job with his program, and we’d love to see him be a part of the program in the future, but we also want him to do what’s best for him. I don’t have a final decision on that. Nobody has told me that. You may know more about it than I do so I can’t make any more comments about it other than that.”

Saban was later asked what the conversation was typically like when a player comes in to talk to him about transferring. Alabama lost six players to transfers over the summer.

“I listen,” Saban said. “I try to understand. I listen really closely about what the concerns are. ... I try to make them aware of the consequences of the decision that they make and offer some experiences that we have in the past to try to get them to make the best value decision for their future. Sometimes we agree on that and sometimes we don’t, but it’s everybody’s choice to make in terms of what they do.”

Barnett, a redshirt freshman, appeared in three games this season completing 11-of-19 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

The former five-star recruit from Corona, Calif., started the Crimson Tide’s season opener against Southern California before being replaced by current starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Last week against Kent State, Barnett completed 4-of-7 passes for 55 yards, including a 34-yard pass to tight end O.J. Howard. After the game, Saban said he planned to play Barnett after the first three possessions “for his development as a quarterback that may have to play at some point in time down the road.”

“He did some good things when he was in there,” Saban said of Barnett’s performance last week.

With Barnett’s departure, redshirt junior Cooper Bateman figures to fill in as the Tide’s second-string quarterback.

“My focus has to be on the players that are on our team, who are committed to our team, who are going to work to help this team to be good and try to get better. The guys that put the team first are the most important thing for us right now in terms of us being a better team.”

Holcombe continues to impact Tide regardless of sport: Earlier this spring, Keith Holcombe tackled double-duty as he went through spring football practice while at the same time trying to make an impact on Alabama’s baseball team.

It wasn’t easy, but the Crimson Tide linebacker and outfielder understood the challenge of trying to play two Division I sports at the same time.

“It’s a little challenging, but I understood what I was getting into when I signed up for it,” Holcombe said this week. “So I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to do it here at the university.”

But a month into his third season at Alabama, the redshirt sophomore middle linebacker has found his place as the team’s backup Mike linebacker, including seeing his first significant action of his career in last weekend’s 48-0 blowout of Kent State. Despite his backup role, Holcombe still finished second on the team with six total tackles Saturday, one behind starting middle linebacker Reuben Foster.

“It’s fun going out there just flying around to the ball, feeling like you’re a little kid again, (doing) what you’ve always dreamed of doing,” Holcombe said. “That’s what they recruited me to come here and do, and that’s why I’m trying to fulfill that.”

Playing mostly special teams and in his backup linebacker spot, Holcombe is fourth on the team with 14 tackles through four games — 11 coming in blowouts against Southern Cal and Kent State.

“Keith has done a really good job for us,” Saban said Wednesday. “He’s one of the guys that’s been around here that knows a little bit what’s going on and what the expectation is, and plays to it pretty consistently.”

Holcombe, a Tuscaloosa native who signed with the Tide as a four-star prospect from nearby Hillcrest High, has battled nagging injuries and adjusting to playing Division I football with Type-1 diabetes, something he’s dealt with since he was 9 years old.

“I was just glad to be out there,” Holcombe said. “The coaches trust me to go out there and do my job, make my calls and that’s what I pride myself in doing.”

During baseball season, Holcombe started 32 of the 37 games he played in, finishing third on the team with a .279 batting average to go along with 23 runs scored and 15 walks while manning left field and the leadoff spot.

Over a 13-day span in early May that also included the first week of spring practice, Holcombe had a seven-game hitting streak during which he batted .429 with seven runs scored and six walks.

And outside of missing a handful of games or practices when there were conflicts with his football responsibilities, Holcombe didn’t show any sign that the month-long period when he was participating in both sports was affecting him.

“I mean once you’re in here for a couple seasons, you understand the process,” Holcombe said. “It takes maybe a day for your body to get going, to get your mind right, (but) it’s not that hard to get back into football.

“It’s a terror on your body, but that’s just Alabama football, what they’re gonna do to you. Like I said, it’s not that bad.”

Since returning to the gridiron in August for preseason camp, Holcombe’s sole focus has been with the reigning national champion Tide, and his teammates appreciate everything he brings to the table.

“Keith Holcombe is a whole ‘nother animal,” Foster joked. “He motivates me. He’s got one speed, (and) he don’t let nothing get him down. I’ve never seen someone like that. His diabetes and all that, he don’t ever get down. He’s on go 100 percent.”

An old bar story : It sounds like the beginning of a joke. Saban and Bob Stoops, the uncle of Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops (not to be confused with Mark’s brother Bob who is the head coach at Oklahoma), are sitting at a bar in Youngstown, Ohio.

Saban, who was a defensive coordinator at Michigan State, was in town to recruit Mark Stoops, who played football at Cardinal Mooney High School in town. Bob Stoops was the head coach of South High School, another school in the city. It turns out the two were too busy discussing X’s and O’s to notice the bar was being robbed.

“It was kind of a round bar, so it wasn’t like you could see everything that was happening,” Saban recalled. “We were talking football and we were arguing about something, I don’t know. We were drawing up stuff, and a guy comes in with a shotgun and holds the place up.

“Well, we keep arguing and we keep talking. The police come and they ask us about the robbery, and we say ‘What robbery?’ So that was kind of the story. The place got robbed and we didn’t even know it. I don’t know if we were that focused or if we were just having that much fun talking about football.”

Saban will face off against Mark Stoops on Saturday as the Tide take on the Wildcats at 6 p.m. in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“From an injury standpoint, Damien and Robert have both practiced. ArDarius has been running and doing some running,” Saban said. “I can’t really tell you who could or who couldn’t play. I think these will all be sort of right-before-the-game decisions relative to whether these guys will be ready to go or not.”

Stewart and Foster missed Alabama’s game against Kent State, opening the door for other Tide receivers to see extended playing time. Junior Cam Sims led all receivers with four catches for 54 yards on the day, while freshman Trevon Diggs also had a big game with three receptions for 23 yards.

“We’re coaching the guys we have, they’re doing a good job,” Saban said. “That’s our main focus and concern, the guys on our team, how can we make them better and how can they be more productive when the game comes, and they’ve been working hard to do that and we’re happy about that.”

Bracing for a ‘Boom’: Kentucky offers one of the nation’s top running backs in Stanley “Boom” Williams. The junior ranks No. 10 in rushing this season, racking up 464 yards on 58 carries, an average of 8 yards per carry.

During his scheduled time on the SEC teleconference, Saban praised Kentucky’s ability to run the ball. The Wildcats have averaged 196.75 yards per game on the ground this season.

“They have three backs that have been productive, in my opinion,” Saban said. “(Williams is) obviously the most productive, but they’ve been able to run the ball very effectively and they certainly controlled the game last week by controlling the line of scrimmage and running the ball against South Carolina. He’s certainly going to be a challenge for us and maybe the best back we’ve played against so far this year.”